Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Inspiration = Flattery? Prada Fall 2011 Mary Jane vs ModCloth Girl of my Dreams Heel

I don't typically do two posts on knock-offs in a row but today has been a day filled with them.

 From Jeffrey Campbell (right) straight up thievery from Simone Rocha (left) with their lucite heeled oxford wedges...



 and now this...

I was looking for neon heels when I came upon these Girl of my Dream heels via ModCloth.  And I was stopped in my tracks.  Not because of the bright neon orange color.



But because they are a straight lift from the Fall 2011 Prada RTW runway mary janes.

These mary janes were done as pumps and boots and sandals.  What made them distinctive was the wide strap, that large button and the curvy heel.  All combined to exaggerate the mary jane style and create a new design.  A design created by Prada and "leveraged" by Jeffrey Campbell.




I don't know why I'm surprised by Jeffrey Campbell or Steve Madden and their stealing of designs.  I scrolled through a page of JC's on Shopbop and it was nearly every shoe or boot.  They were almost all a lift from a more innovative talented company, just taken and tweaked ever so slightly.

I've said it before and I will continue to do so... this is intellectual property theft.  If you admire a designer and their work but you can't get it or can't afford it, do you really think it's better to dilute their work so they, eventually, can't continue to create or are you fine with someone coming along, dumbing their work down and mass producing it.

Do you support the artists or the thieves


5 comments:

gypsy said...

I gotta say the orange ones are cute, but they have velcro straps, I saw these already and didnt like that, Of course I rather support the artists/original designers and not the thieves or copycats, but once again the masses wants the look but doesnt have the dollars. When I can afford the ones I want thats when I will have em, until then I shall just drool...Jeffrey Campbell does NOTHING for me. Never did. The only thing I liked are the flats from UNIF with the spikes all over for 164.00 other than that no, not supportive.

gypsy said...

Again I made a mistake one has velcro, cant remember which ones now or where I saw them but it wasnt ModCloth, I learned about that site from you. The orange are the originals, I type faster than the brain works and today is not a good day for me anyway, but its such a shotty job the pinks and the button, they're just tacky.

Lara said...

Wouldn't it be incredible if all the big designers did massive class-action suits against them? Oh that would be brilliant.

funny firm said...

I absolutely love the orange ones. That would stop anybody in their tracks. I know it would stop me. very elegant.

Charlotte Allen said...

Legally, the knock-off guys win, as long as they aren't trying to pass off their product as the name designer's or are using a "trade dress" such as Christian Louboutin's distinctive red soles. The silver lining: knockoffs, especially shoe knockoffs, never really look like the real thing. They look like cheap imitations. This isn't such a bad thing. Most women wouldn't be able to afford fashionable clothes if it weren't for less expensive versions of designer designs. What if the only trenchcoats you were allowed to buy were Burberrys?